Strip handling machine



June 1954 H. F. WELSH ET AL STRIP HANDLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 28, 1949 June 29, 1954 WELSH ET AL 2,682,335

STRIP HANDLING MACHINE Filed Dec 28, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 29, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Herbert'F-razer Welsh, Philadelphia, Douglas Cary Wendell, Jr., Bryn Mawr, and Theodore H. Bonn,v Philadelphia, Pa., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Remington Rand Inc., New York; N. Y'., a' corporation of Delaware Application=December 28, 1949, Serial No. 135,502

3 Claims. 1 This, invention relates generally to a strip or tape handling apparatus which. may be used in connection with, but whose utility is not-limited to, such. processes as electroplating, drying, and photographic. development of film strips.

Heretofore strip handling devices have utilized pairs of. parallel cylinders in combination with guides such as combs, grooves and slots todirect the strip progressively along the length of the: cylinder. If the str-ip was started on a cylinder or a rollerin a:direction perpendicular to the axis of the-cylinder thestrip would overlap upon itself. If: the strip was started in a direction not perpendicular to theaxis the strip would not overlap, but, wouldtend to progressively traverse theJength' of the cylinder. That is, as the-cylinden revolved the: place wherethe tape was receivediby thecylinder tendedlto move' to the left or. right displacing the strip. along the cylinder. Guides as used in the prior art provide a counter force along the-edge of. thestrip to prevent such action. The result is slippageof the-strip on the cylinder, vibration or undulation in thestrip, instability in the handling of the strip,- and extensive. damage to the edges of thin strips of material, making itimpractical for. use in such cases;

In. thislinventionawork piece in strip form is fedathrough arroller train without the useof'complexg-uidesfor each wrap. about a roller: group;

The; strips do not overlapor traverse the? support members; vibrations ort undulations are. greatlyrreduced, and there is greater stability in handling of strips. Of great importance is the; fact that: the invention makes possible the handling of very thin strips of material: with"- negligible distortion.

An object of this invention .is to provide a new and; improved. machine for. eficiently' handling stripsofflexible material.

Another object of thisinvention is to provide almachinepeculiarly adapted:to handle verythin strips-of material: (.001' inch or less). without dis tortionofor. injury to said strip.

Anotherobject of: thisinvention is to provide a. machine; which may be readily adjusted to handle strips of different widths;

Stillanother-object of. this invention is to pro-- vide a machine for handling strips of material which: capable: of. adjustment to: accurately maintain a given clearancebetween adjacent loops of a strip A further objectof this invention is to pro-- videa =.machine-convenientlyand E effectively producing an even plating on a strip of material subjected to; an electmplatingzprocess.

simpler in construction than any heretofore" known.

With the foregoing discussion in mind; this invention itself will be most readily understood from the following detailed description of a representative embodiment thereof, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is an end view of the machine,-

Figure 2 is a side view of the cylinders of the machine with a strip of material thereon;. and disclosing, by way of example, the useof the invention with conventional electroplating apparatus (shown in dotted lines),

Figure 3 is an end View of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a top view of Figure2,

Figure 5 shows an enlarged: section between lines |l and 22 of Figure l,

Figure 6 is an end view showing a modified form of the machine;

Figure '7 is a side View of the lower section of Figure 6,

Figure Sis a top view ofFigure-T,

Figure 9' is a side view of a second machinewith a strip of-material thereon,.an'd' Figure 10 is a right end view' of FigurerQ;

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral l0 designates a cylinder orroller having an. axially disposedhorizonta-l shaft H which is supported for rotation. in suitable bearings IZand en'd' frame 53. Itisnoted; that non-rotatable strip receiving. bodies can be utilized if the strip is made to slide over the contacted surfaces of the said bodies. The end of shaft I I is fitted with a drive wheel M which is linked to the drive shaft H of. anelectric motor by means ofa drive belt it... Themotor i5 may be reversible and adapted for variable-speed operation. It is mounted on the frame G3,.whichframe is attached to any suitable structure (notshown indmwing). Although the motor drive is desirable, the machine may be operated satisfactorily without it if the strip can bear a tension upon itas it leaves the device.

A cylinder l iilanditsshaft IH are physically similar to ID and M, respectively, having equal diameters and lengths. Support is provided by suitable bearings H2 mounted in an inverted U- shaped frame it; This frame is connected to 53 by a nut and'bolt 22 and 23; respectively.

Cylinders HI and I H) as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are-positioned so that their axes II- and III lie in parallel planes with the axis of one cylinder angula-rly displaced relative to the axis of the other by the angle 0. By adjustment of the frame I8 about its support point, cylinder IIO may be rotated around a perpendicular line 2| intersecting the axes of the said cylinders at their centers (Figure 4). The said angle may be varied by loosening the nut 22 which allows an angular displacement between frame I3 and frame I8. The angular relationship between I and H0 is relative and it does not matter whether I0 or H0 is displaced to vary 0. It is also to be understood that the displacement 6 of the cylinders need not be limited to the rotation about an axis such as 2|, but may be about any axis which is perpendicular, though not necessarily intersecting both the axes I9 and 20 (Figure In the operation of the machine, as the cylinder I0 is revolved a strip of material 26 is fed onto the said cylinder from a supply reel (not shown) so that each edge of the strip while it is in contact with the cylinder is in a plane perpendicular to the axis I9. For this reason, as explained above, the strip does not axially traverse the roller and stability is achieved.

The strip 26 after leaving I0 moves to H0 where it passes around II 0 in the same manner as described for I0, with the same resulting stability. The strip then again returns to I0 forming a loop.

Upon returning to I0 the strip assumes a position on I0 adjacent to the position taken by the strip as it is first fed onto the cylinder I0. The strip 26 thus continues to pass back nd forth about the cylinders I0 and I I0 forming a number of loops until it leaves the machine as it entered it, with its edges in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder it leaves. It may be, thus, observed that because of the symmetrical relationships involved the direction of the strip 26 may be reversed or the strip 26 fed onto either cylinder and may be taken off either cylinder.

It can be noted that the strip 26 in passing from one cylinder to the other is twisted through an angle of a, and is then twisted back through 0, when it returns. The rate of twist can be increased or decreased by either decreasing or increasing, respectively, the distance between the parallel planes in which the axes I9 and 20 lie.

The distance between the corresponding edges of adjacent loops lying side by side on a cylinder is hereby defined as the pitch of the machine. The pitch of the machine is a function of the diameters of the cylinders as well as 0. In the instant case where the diameters are equal it will be seen by referring to Figure 5, that the pitch is equal to the diameter D of the cylinder times the sine of the angle 0. Furthermore, it appears that the pitch P, is equal to the gap G, plus the width of the strip W. Therefore, by changing 6, any values may be given to G and W, so that the machine can be adjusted to handle different widths of strip with any desired gap between loops of the strip. Although the size of the loops vary along the lengths of the cylinders I9 and 20 the pitch remains sensibly constant.

Referring now to Figures 6, 7 and 8, bars 24 and I24 of rectangular cross-section, are supported at their ends by attachment to the frames I3 and 18, respectively. The bars contain a multiplicity of slots 25 and I25. The distance along the line of slots from an edge of a slot to the corresponding edg of the next adjacent slot is equal to the pitch of the machine which has been defined above.

Guides 24 and I24 may be used in connection with the above described machine to provide greater stability when the strips are defective. When strip edges are curved in the plane of the strip it tends to make the stri shift its points of contact on the cylinders. When the guides are used the loops of the strip pass through the slots in each of the guides and damage due to any irregularity in the strip is prevented. Otherwise, as explained above, the guides are not needed.

This machine is generally useful in diverse applications and is especially valuable when used to plate ordinary and very thin strips of material in an electroplating process. Usually when strips are electroplated there is a greater build up of plating along the edges because of the concentration of current density at places of greater curvature. By the use of this machine the strip can be handled so that the gaps between the loops are small (0.02), approximating a sheet and resulting in the concentration of current density only at the outer edges of the outer loops. If 20 loops are placed side by side 38 sides are protected and 2 sides are exposed. The edge effect is thus reduced to one twentieth &0) of that on unprotected tape.

Another embodiment of this invention is shown in Figures 9 and 10. A plurality of strip receiving bodies 200 are mounted at a distance from each other with their lengths along direction lines skewed with respect to each other. The said strip receiving bodies 200 are supported at each of their ends by universal mountings in a pair of end plates 20I and 202. If it is desired to have rotatable strip receiving bodies, self-aligning bearings can be provided for the ends of the said bodies.

A shaft 201 which is threaded to receive a nut on each of its ends passes through the centers of the end plates 20I and 202 axially aligning them. The said shaft also passes through the frame sections 208 and 209 to which it is fastened by nuts 203 and 204. The bolts 205 and 206 prevent rotation of end plates 20I and 202 about the shaft 201 and fix the position of the said end lates with respect to the frame section 208 and 209. The skew of the strip receiving bodies 200 with respect to each other is varied by removing one of the said bolts 205 or 206 and respectively rotating with relation to each other one of the said end plates 20I or 202.

The frame sections 208 and 209 are fastened together by a pair of nuts and bolts 2I0 and 2I I. The interconnection of the said fram sections allows for change in the axial distance between end plates 20I and 202 due to adjustments in the relative skew of the said strip receiving bodies.

A strip of material 26 is fed into the machine, passes from one strip receiving body 200 to another in a manner similar to that described above, forms a number of loops around the said bodies and is thereafter removed from the machine. The machine need not be provided with rotatable strip receiving bodies when provision is made for the strip to have a sliding contact with the said strip receiving bodies.

The pitch of the machine, as shown previously, is a direct function of the relative skew of said strip receiving bodies. Therefore, the said skew may be varied to adjust the spacing of the loops and also to accommodate for strips of different widths.

It will, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein contained are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A strip-handling device comprising a pair of superposed pivotally connected frames, a stripreceiving cylinder rotatably mounted in each frame, one of said frames being adjustable to permit the axes of the cylinders to be relatively adjusted in parallel planes at a skew angle.

2. In a strip-handling apparatus constructed and arranged to receive strips of material of predetermined width, a frame having a plurality of sections, one of said sections being rotatable relatively to another of the sections and having a plurality of guide elements connected thereto, said elements being efiective to receive a corresponding plurality of strips of material, a cylindrical member turnably arranged on the rotatable section and receiving strips of material from the guide elements, a second cylindrical member turnably mounted on another of the sections, and other guide elements arranged on the lastmentioned section and effective to receive strips of material from the first-mentioned cylindrical member.

3. In a strip-handling apparatus constructed and arranged to receive and operate on strips of material of predetermined width, a frame having a relatively fixed section, a guide assembly fastened to said section, a first strip-receiving member rotatably supported on said fixed section, and operative to receive strips of material from the said guide assembly, a rotatable section arranged on the frame and also having a guide assembly, and a second strip-receiving member turnably arranged on the rotatable section; said second stripreceiving member receiving strips from the lastmentioned guide assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,583,741 Parker May 4, 1926 1,920,224 Weaver Aug. 1, 1933 2,002,994 Hartmann et al. May 28, 1935 2,002,995 Hartmann et a1. May 28, 1935 2,155,324 Moritz Apr. 18,1939 2,165,259 Helm July 11, 1939 2,284,399 Lely et a1 May 26, 1942 2,302,508 Sordelli Nov. 17, 1942 2,320,891 Ryder June 1, 1943 2,428,288 Miles et a1 Sept. 30, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 448,774 Great Britain June 11, 1936 523,902 Great Britain July 25, 1940 

